Stock up, stock down: Five Hornets who saw the biggest movement in preseason play

Evaluating a few key parts of the Charlotte Hornets' roster.

Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

With the Charlotte Hornets preseason now officially in the books, it's time that we check in on the stock market...of the roster, that is.

Below are five players on Charlotte's roster that I felt saw the biggest movement in their stock since the start of preseason play. For better or worse.

LaMelo Ball - Stock up

As far as his production, it's not all that surprising to see LaMelo put up the numbers he did. It's just a good sight to see for Hornets and NBA fans to have him out there on the court playing at 100%. If the ankles are an issue of the past, he could certainly be on track to have an All-Star-caliber season.

Tre Mann - Stock up

I'm not sure anyone was more impressive this preseason for the Hornets than Mann. He played exceptionally well and really rose above expectations, almost cementing his role as the first man off the Hornets' bench.

Did someone say Sixth Man of the Year? Okay, I might be getting ahead of myself, but seriously...this dude is lighting it up.

Vasilije Micic - Stock down

I mentioned this earlier in the preseason, but it looks like Micic is a bit fatigued.

I mean, he did go through a transition with the trade, learning a new system, then playing with his national team in the Olympics, and then right into training camp where he's learning everything all over again with a new staff.

Nick Richards - Stock down

I wasn't all that thrilled with Nick Richards' performance in the preseason. I'm not hitting the panic button just yet, but he showed some major red flags on the defensive end with a lack of awareness and poor contests at the rim. With Mark Williams out, I expected him to take full advantage and be more effective on both ends of the floor.

Tidjane Salaün - Stock up

The expectation was that Salaün would be a bit of a long-term project and would spend the majority of his rookie campaign in Greensboro with the Swarm. That very well could still be the case, but Salaün showed a lot during the preseason, possibly proving that he deserves a spot in the rotation much sooner than anticipated.

His shot looks really good which is a huge boost for the Hornets after he didn't shoot it as well as he would have liked last season overseas. He's active on both ends of the floor, but has to learn how to harness some of that energy and slow things down.

Honorable mention: Hornets fans, stock up

For the first time in a long time, it feels like there is real excitement and energy is buzzing around the city. Perhaps it's the health of the roster, the new coaching staff, or an ownership that is 100% committed to turning this franchise into a winner. Either way, Buzz City is buzzing entering the new season.

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